Pride 2020: Christine + Sarah’s Full Interview

Christine and Sarah

Christine: I consider myself a native Texan, despite having been born in Cajun country and living overseas for a bit as a young kid. I’m the fourth of five kids and part of an even bigger Catholic extended family. Growing up in the heat and humidity of Houston, most of my time was spent pretending to be Hermione Granger (I certainly had her hair), subjecting my family to singing at all hours and bringing a little extra sass to every situation. I took this drama on the road and moved to LA to attend college, majoring in Theater and French. After graduating, I convinced the good people of live television to let me work with them for the next several years. I now work at Pixar Animation Studios in production management, helping to usher films onto the screen and hopefully, make them a little bit more queer.

Sarah: I grew up in Sleepy Hollow, New York (just like the legend) so I appreciate a good ghost story and homemade Halloween costume. I graduated from USC, School of Cinematic Arts and have since been following my passion for story in several facets of the industry, both in LA and the Bay Area. Most recently I was shooting and editing for an amazing non-profit called BAYCAT (check it out!) that works toward equal opportunity and representation in the media and on screen. As a proud introvert, cinematography has been my portal for absorbing and interpreting the world around me.

Christine and Sarah: We’re obsessed with each other! Is that gross? It totally is, but it’s true! Time and again we each feel lucky to have found someone who shares so many of our values and interests but also helps us to see the world in new ways. As an introvert (Pisces)/extrovert (Sagittarius) pair, we are constantly learning from and surprising each other.

Together we love to make films, tell stories, spend time with our many amazing friends outside in the beautiful California sun. We can’t wait to travel the world, start a family, save the planet, read every book, have a prize-worthy garden and make academy award-winning films – totally doable right? Together, I’m hopeful.

Christine: Sarah is uncommonly thoughtful and an inspiring blend of peace and power. She could be contemplating the beautiful bark of a tree one minute and doing a hilarious dance the next that has me crying with laughter.

Sarah: Christine is the cutest thing in the whole wide world - but make no mistake – she’s also a badass bitch. She can run multiple departments AND lead the LGBTQ+ group at Pixar while simultaneously producing short films outside of work. She’s the most thoughtful and can remember everyone and their mother’s birthday. She’s also an amazing chef and baker. What a catch!

Christine and Sarah: During university, we worked at the same student-run coffee shop and performance café, where we became close friends and learned to sling the best milkshakes on the west coast. After being great friends for two years, we began dating the summer after graduation. Christine knew she was in love with Sarah several months before she finally worked up the courage to give her the letter she’d written to tell her how she felt. To Christine’s great surprise (and ridiculous elation), Sarah felt the same!

We went on several adrenaline- filled, wonderful dates. The “Dear Diary- tonight, her arm brushed my arm!” kind and we already knew we belonged.

Christine: My favorite part of the wedding (besides the whole thing) is not one particular moment but what it represented. By having an intimate ceremony and throwing a huge party, we were able to share our love and relationship with our friends and family in a new and profound way. Growing up in a Catholic family and coming out at such a young age was extremely painful and shaped the way I saw my sexuality for many years – our wedding was a manifestation of love to both myself and my wonderful partner, but also a representation for my family of the depth and joy we (and all other queer couples) have. We’re so very lucky, and I felt it to my bones that day. (My wife surprising me with a bagpipe-player was a close second!)

Sarah: Besides the wild horses that escaped and stampeded through our cocktail hour (true story), I think the most memorable moment for me from our wedding was reading our personal vows to each other in front of our friends and family. Even though my knees were shaking the whole time and I may have blacked out for a second...it was such a powerful moment of showcasing our relationship and commitment to each other in front of our loved ones. It was validating for a million reasons. All three of my younger brothers stopped us separately throughout the night to emotionally convey how deeply happy they were for us. I think people were honored to be invited to share such a special, intimate moment with us.

Christine: For me, Pride represents a community – a warm embrace into a group of people who can simply relate. No matter where you are on your personal journey, you are loved and understood.

Whether you’re ready to run through the streets wearing only a pride flag cape, wildly screaming “I love being a lesbian!!!” or you’re not sure how to come out to yourself and family, this community will support you. Pride is not about labels or divisions, it’s about finding the best way to understand each other and find joy in who we are and our right to live and love freely.

Sarah: To me, Pride means reclaiming the richest parts of you. It means celebrating and loving all of yourself as an act of rebellion. Pride is courage. Pride is unity. Pride is the acknowledgement that you are not alone but rather, surrounded by hundreds, thousands - millions even - of glittery folks just like you. Pride is a new vocabulary. Pride is my wife sitting right next to me, and wanting to share my love for her with this whole beautiful, silly little world, every single day.

Christine and Sarah: Oh man! All of them? Any of them? More of them please?

Fried Green Tomatoes!!! Carol, Feel Good, Betty, Booksmart, Pariah, Moonlight, Euphoria (HBO), Call Me By Your Name, All of Céline Sciamma’s works (Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Pauline, Water Lillies), Call My Agent, Disobedience, The L Word, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Dead To Me, Vida, Saint Frances, Orange Is The New Black, Sex Education, Mosquita Y Mari, My Days of Mercy, Transparent, I Love Dick, One Mississippi, Gentleman Jack, The Imitation Game, The Favourite, The Handmaiden, Imagine Me & You, High Art, Act 1 of Blue Is The Warmest Color and no other part of it.

Christine and Sarah: I don’t think you can over represent anything related to the LGBTQ+ community, but white, gay, cisgender male relationships and experiences routinely receive the most focus. These stories are told most often and there are far more spaces for gay men than others in the community (e.g. ratio of gay bars and safe gathering places v. lesbian spaces).

While there have been great strides in recent years, trans and non-binary people are still vastly under or misrepresented in media, even in comparison to the rest of the queer community who see so few quality representations of their stories. I’d also love to see bi folks more included and less ostracized within the community.

More LGBTQ+ immigrant and POC representation! Intersectionality is a verryyy broad term used to describe a myriad of nuanced and varying experiences, histories, family dynamics and relationships.

Lastly, there is also a lack of visibility for building queer families, queer parenting, parenting a gender non- confirming child, etc. Representations of these experiences and greater open dialogue about them would be huge.